One of the most enduring tableaus in Little Falls was of Steve and Polly Gerdy relaxing in wicker chairs on their front porch.

“They read, did crossword puzzles, visited with neighbors and just watched the world go by,” said their daughter, Jeannie Gerdy.

Tall and burly, Steve Gerdy looked every inch the tough-as-nails high school football coach he was for decades — the perfect complement to his petite wife, who was known for her kaleidoscopic variety of hats and zeal for volunteering.

The Gerdys’ journey began more than six decades ago in western Pennsylvania. They raised four children in Little Falls and doted on their many grandchildren and great-grandchildren — all the while inspiring countless young people through their work in the schools.

Their love story concluded last week when they died 17 hours apart.

Mr. Gerdy, who led four North Jersey football programs from the 1950s to the ’90s, died on the Fourth of July. Mrs. Gerdy, a dedicated soup kitchen volunteer, died the next day.

He was 89. She was 87.

Infirmities put the couple in separate hospitals — Mr. Gerdy at Chilton in Pequannock, Mrs. Gerdy at St. Joseph’s in Paterson — in their last days.

Mr. Gerdy had undergone 11 knee surgeries and “ultimately his body started quitting on him,” their daughter said, and Mrs. Gerdy, a two-time cancer survivor, had lung damage caused by radiation treatments.

The Gerdys met at Slippery Rock State College in Pennsylvania. Steve was a student and a football tackle. Polly, whose given name was Pauline, worked as a secretary there.

They married in 1948 and moved to Monmouth County for Mr. Gerdy’s first teaching job.

They migrated north when Mr. Gerdy, who taught physics, landed a position at Passaic Valley High School in Little Falls.

Beginning in 1955, Mr. Gerdy racked up a 91-66-2 record, six conference titles and one state sectional title in 18 years as Passaic Valley’s head football coach. He was known to make his players run sprints after a loss. He stepped down as one of North Jersey’s coaching deans.

His retirement from the gridiron lasted all of one year.

While still a teacher at Passaic Valley, he took over the football program at the now-defunct Paul VI High School in Clifton. In his fourth season, 1978, he led Paul VI to a 9-1 record and a sectional championship. With 17 seniors from that team graduating, Mr. Gerdy retired again — only to resurface three years later as head coach at Paramus Catholic.

“I keep turning up like an old penny,” he told The Record in 1981, making light of his half-hearted retirement attempts.

He coached Paramus Catholic for six years. The old penny would turn up once more as a head coach — at Saddle Brook.

In obvious understatement, Jeannie Gerdy said her father, who stood 6-foot-3, weighed more than 250 pounds and used his booming voice to great effect, “had a passion for coaching.” He continued working as an assistant coach into his 70s. He also had served on the Little Falls and Passaic Valley Regional High School boards of education.

“He was a bear, and there are some crazy stories you’d think would’ve scared his players and students away,” Jeannie Gerdy said. “But over time we’ve heard more and more of his former players and students say how much he shaped them.”

Jacob Valkenburg, who played running back and defensive back for Mr. Gerdy at Passaic Valley in the late ’50s, said the discipline the coach instilled “got me going toward a career in the Army.”

“He was tough and had an impact on everyone who met him,” said Valkenburg, 69 and retired in North Carolina. “I can still picture one thing. Coach Gerdy had the biggest hands I ever saw in my life, and when he grabbed your helmet — and he did that a lot — all you could see were those hands.”

Polly Gerdy, who was a secretary in the Little Falls schools for 22 years, was as sweet and nurturing as her husband was gruff and demanding.

Mrs. Gerdy was an institution at Eva’s Village, the social service agency in Paterson. For 23 years, until a few weeks ago, she volunteered every Wednesday as a server in Eva’s soup kitchen.

“Even when her health was failing, Polly remained a constant here, and would even come with her portable oxygen tank,” said Donna Fico, the agency’s director of marketing and education.

“She wouldn’t let anything come between her and her service to Eva’s. She enjoyed being with us, and we enjoyed seeing her.”

Jeannie Gerdy said it was appropriate that her father, a World War II Army veteran and Civil War buff, would die at Chilton Hospital on the Fourth of July. The hospital is across the street from a football field — Pequannock High School’s — and the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1-3, and the Confederates surrendered Vicksburg, Miss., to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on July 4, both in 1863.

Jeannie Gerdy said the family believes their mother, who had nearly died the weekend before, understood when she was told that her husband of 64 years had passed away. While emphasizing that her mother was very ill, Jeannie Gerdy said she suspects the news may have hastened her death.

Instances of long-married couples dying weeks, days or even hours apart are not uncommon. Researchers have studied the phenomenon. A large 2006 study by a Harvard Medical School doctor and a University of Pennsylvania sociologist found that the death of a wife in the previous 30 days increased a husband’s death risk by 53 percent, and the husband’s death increased the wife’s death risk by 61 percent. The study examined couples older than 65.

After Mrs. Gerdy was told that her husband had died, she scribbled a note for the family. It said “cheap funeral” and “great party.” Jeannie Gerdy said she believes her mother was stating her wishes for her own farewell.

Those wishes will be honored. The Gerdys were cremated and their memorial service — or great party — will be Aug. 18 at 1 p.m. at Our Lady of the Holy Angels R.C. Church in Little Falls. Arrangements were by Gaita Memorial Home, Little Falls.

The Gerdys are survived by their children, Greg of Pennington, Tom of Lynchburg, Va., John of Lancaster, Pa., and Jeannie of Little Falls; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Two more great-grandchildren are due to be born within weeks. Additionally, Mr. Gerdy is survived by his brothers, Walt of Greenville, Pa., and Bill of Orlando, Fla.

One of the most enduring tableaus in Little Falls was of Steve and Polly Gerdy relaxing in wicker chairs on their front porch.

“They read, did crossword puzzles, visited with neighbors and just watched the world go by,” said their daughter, Jeannie Gerdy.

Tall and burly, Steve Gerdy looked every inch the tough-as-nails high school football coach he was for decades — the perfect complement to his petite wife, who was known for her kaleidoscopic variety of hats and zeal for volunteering.

The Gerdys’ journey began more than six decades ago in western Pennsylvania. They raised four children in Little Falls and doted on their many grandchildren and great-grandchildren — all the while inspiring countless young people through their work in the schools.

Their love story concluded last week when they died 17 hours apart.

Mr. Gerdy, who led four North Jersey football programs from the 1950s to the ’90s, died on the Fourth of July. Mrs. Gerdy, a dedicated soup kitchen volunteer, died the next day.

He was 89. She was 87.

Infirmities put the couple in separate hospitals — Mr. Gerdy at Chilton in Pequannock, Mrs. Gerdy at St. Joseph’s in Paterson — in their last days.

Mr. Gerdy had undergone 11 knee surgeries and “ultimately his body started quitting on him,” their daughter said, and Mrs. Gerdy, a two-time cancer survivor, had lung damage caused by radiation treatments.

The Gerdys met at Slippery Rock State College in Pennsylvania. Steve was a student and a football tackle. Polly, whose given name was Pauline, worked as a secretary there.

They married in 1948 and moved to Monmouth County for Mr. Gerdy’s first teaching job.

They migrated north when Mr. Gerdy, who taught physics, landed a position at Passaic Valley High School in Little Falls.

Beginning in 1955, Mr. Gerdy racked up a 91-66-2 record, six conference titles and one state sectional title in 18 years as Passaic Valley’s head football coach. He was known to make his players run sprints after a loss. He stepped down as one of North Jersey’s coaching deans.

His retirement from the gridiron lasted all of one year.

While still a teacher at Passaic Valley, he took over the football program at the now-defunct Paul VI High School in Clifton. In his fourth season, 1978, he led Paul VI to a 9-1 record and a sectional championship. With 17 seniors from that team graduating, Mr. Gerdy retired again — only to resurface three years later as head coach at Paramus Catholic.

“I keep turning up like an old penny,” he told The Record in 1981, making light of his half-hearted retirement attempts.

He coached Paramus Catholic for six years. The old penny would turn up once more as a head coach — at Saddle Brook.

In obvious understatement, Jeannie Gerdy said her father, who stood 6-foot-3, weighed more than 250 pounds and used his booming voice to great effect, “had a passion for coaching.” He continued working as an assistant coach into his 70s. He also had served on the Little Falls and Passaic Valley Regional High School boards of education.

“He was a bear, and there are some crazy stories you’d think would’ve scared his players and students away,” Jeannie Gerdy said. “But over time we’ve heard more and more of his former players and students say how much he shaped them.”

Jacob Valkenburg, who played running back and defensive back for Mr. Gerdy at Passaic Valley in the late ’50s, said the discipline the coach instilled “got me going toward a career in the Army.”

“He was tough and had an impact on everyone who met him,” said Valkenburg, 69 and retired in North Carolina. “I can still picture one thing. Coach Gerdy had the biggest hands I ever saw in my life, and when he grabbed your helmet — and he did that a lot — all you could see were those hands.”

Polly Gerdy, who was a secretary in the Little Falls schools for 22 years, was as sweet and nurturing as her husband was gruff and demanding.

Mrs. Gerdy was an institution at Eva’s Village, the social service agency in Paterson. For 23 years, until a few weeks ago, she volunteered every Wednesday as a server in Eva’s soup kitchen.

“Even when her health was failing, Polly remained a constant here, and would even come with her portable oxygen tank,” said Donna Fico, the agency’s director of marketing and education.

“She wouldn’t let anything come between her and her service to Eva’s. She enjoyed being with us, and we enjoyed seeing her.”

Jeannie Gerdy said it was appropriate that her father, a World War II Army veteran and Civil War buff, would die at Chilton Hospital on the Fourth of July. The hospital is across the street from a football field — Pequannock High School’s — and the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1-3, and the Confederates surrendered Vicksburg, Miss., to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on July 4, both in 1863.

Jeannie Gerdy said the family believes their mother, who had nearly died the weekend before, understood when she was told that her husband of 64 years had passed away. While emphasizing that her mother was very ill, Jeannie Gerdy said she suspects the news may have hastened her death.

Instances of long-married couples dying weeks, days or even hours apart are not uncommon. Researchers have studied the phenomenon. A large 2006 study by a Harvard Medical School doctor and a University of Pennsylvania sociologist found that the death of a wife in the previous 30 days increased a husband’s death risk by 53 percent, and the husband’s death increased the wife’s death risk by 61 percent. The study examined couples older than 65.

After Mrs. Gerdy was told that her husband had died, she scribbled a note for the family. It said “cheap funeral” and “great party.” Jeannie Gerdy said she believes her mother was stating her wishes for her own farewell.

Those wishes will be honored. The Gerdys were cremated and their memorial service — or great party — will be Aug. 18 at 1 p.m. at Our Lady of the Holy Angels R.C. Church in Little Falls. Arrangements were by Gaita Memorial Home, Little Falls.

The Gerdys are survived by their children, Greg of Pennington, Tom of Lynchburg, Va., John of Lancaster, Pa., and Jeannie of Little Falls; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Two more great-grandchildren are due to be born within weeks. Additionally, Mr. Gerdy is survived by his brothers, Walt of Greenville, Pa., and Bill of Orlando, Fla.